Backlighting Divers in Tank Cave

 Cave diving, Mt Gambier  No Responses »
Sep 032012
 
Backlighting Divers in Tank Cave

About the site I realise I may be beginning to repeat myself in talking about Tank Cave again, but there are a few good reasons for it. Primary among them is that it’s winter in this part of the world, and the ocean gets particularly lumpy and hard to get along with. Mt Gambier is a great option for weather-independent diving, and Tank Cave is a fantastic playground for a fun weekend. I think one of the great attractions for me is the shallow depths through most of the tunnels. Narcosis makes me the best photographer in the world, right up until the moment I return to the surface and begin to review my shots. The high price of helium [read more…]

Rebreathers and Restrictions in Tank Cave

 Cave diving, Mt Gambier  No Responses »
Aug 272012
 
Rebreathers and Restrictions in Tank Cave

About the site As I mentioned two weeks ago, when Dive Rite announced their annual photo competition, a weekend in Tank Cave seemed like the obvious place to take some shots of Dive Rite gear in action. I was lucky enough to win third prize against some very nice shots. Some of my other submitted shots from that weekend didn’t make the final, and luckily I’m the only judge on my own site. I love this pair of shots, and the first one definitely deserves a little explanation. About the dive Having brow beaten my buddies into wearing all their Dive Rite gear and none of the rest, we had a lovely series of dives over the weekend while also doing [read more…]

Video in Murra-El-Elevyn

 Cave diving, Nullarbor, Other  2 Responses »
Aug 202012
 

About the site I dived in Murra-el-Elevyn cave in Easter this year, and wrote up one of my favourite shots from our dive here. Compared to the other Nullarbor caves, Murra has smaller, shallower passages with red, orange and pink walls. The limestone scalloping and shapes in the rock make for stunning pictures. The remote location means its rarely dived and when we arrived the water was crystal clear. About the dive In total we had four dives over three diving days in Murra. Of these, I spent two taking still photos, one exploring small nooks and crannies (camera free!) and one taking video footage. The aim of the video dive was to find the end of a side tunnel [read more…]

Dive Rite Photo Competition 2012

 Cave diving, Mt Gambier  1 Response »
Aug 132012
 
Dive Rite Photo Competition 2012

About the site I’ve talked about and shown photos from Tank Cave multiple times. With kilometres of beautiful, varied and shallow passages its a photographer’s delight in a relatively easily accessible location. When Dive Rite announced their annual photo competition, a weekend in Tank Cave seemed like the obvious place to take some shots of Dive Rite gear in action. About the dive This was the first dive of the weekend, as I wanted to take advantage of clear water throughout the system for the best photos. While 8kms of passage between 12 divers seems like a lot, there are some great shots to be taken in the regularly travelled places. By the last dives of a weekend these locations will be milky from the [read more…]

Trip preparation

 Cave diving, Mt Gambier  No Responses »
Aug 062012
 
Trip preparation

I regret to admit that I’ve been caught on the hop with this post. With an upcoming trip to some promising cave territory in Queensland, the usual amount of planning and preparation has been going on. One of the logistical challenges has been getting the required amount of diving, caving and camping gear across 3,000kms to a remote part of northern Australia. Last week this crystallised into a plan, which recrystallised on Friday into a plan that involved being fully packed by Monday night. With a weekend in Mount Gambier cave diving, the number of available hours between committing to the timeframe and having to have everything in boxes became a lot shorter. As such, I have no carefully thought [read more…]

Zooanthids and fish on the SS Coogee

 Ocean diving, Wrecks  No Responses »
Jul 302012
 
Zooanthids and fish on the SS Coogee

About the wreck The SS Coogee was built in the UK in 1887 and first known as the Lancashire Witch, possibly a more exciting name than she ended up with. In 1888 her owner went broke and she was bought by Melbourne ship owners Huddart Parker LTD to steam between Melbourne and Geelong. As the Coogee she had an interesting history, with several collisions with other ships and sandbars. In 1917 she was taken over by the Royal Australian Navy for use as a mine sweeper and in 1921, she was used to repair the telegraph cable that crosses under Bass Strait. By 1928 the ship was considered redundant and she was taken outside the Heads and scuttled. It should be [read more…]

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